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To: All applicants to Specialty Training in Scotland


Dr Harry Burns MPH FRCS(Glas) FRCP(Ed) FFPH 

Chief Medical Officer

St Andrew’s House

Regent Road

Edinburgh EH1 3DG

Telephone: 0131-244 2264

Fax: 0131-244 3477

cmo@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

http://www.scotland.gov.uk


Your ref:
Our ref:

4 May 2007

Dear Colleague

UPDATE ON MMC SPECIALTY TRAINING RECRUITMENT IN SCOTLAND

Following the announcement on 30 March 2007 by Andy Kerr, the Scottish Minister for Health and Community Care, to interview all eligible applicants to Scotland, you will be aware that both Wales and NI have now decided to use the ‘interview all’ approach. You will also be aware of the continuing work by the MMC Review Group, chaired by Prof Neil Douglas, which has been attempting to bring resolution in England.

In the weeks since, NHS Education Scotland (NES) has been working hard along with the NHS Boards, to develop the detailed operational planning for Scotland. This has proven to be a complex piece of work with the requirement to deliver a solution which meets the principles for MMC and PMETB; works in the best interests of applicants to Scotland and ensures that patient care across NHSScotland is maintained throughout.

An updated timetable for the extended round of Specialty Training (ST) interviews was distributed via DOTS and SST and posted on the MMCScotland website on 20 April 2007; since then applicants have also been asked to update their sector preferences for all applications made to Scotland, using the form and guidance available on the MMCScotland website . I would urge those who have not already done so to complete and return this information as soon as possible, to avoid delays in the offers process.

In order to meet the needs of NHSScotland, its patients and our junior doctors, we need to have doctors in post by 1 August. Following the closure of MTAS, it has become clear that if Scotland is to deliver to the timetable at Annex A, NES and NHS Boards will need to manage the remainder of the process.

The timetable we are now working to is particularly challenging; and it is essential we all work together to ensure that it is delivered. For this to happen, updates will be provided on a regular basis through the MMCScotland website. We will continue to use the DOTS/SST system for advising you of when these updates become available on the site. Applicants to Scotland need to ensure that they are checking their e-mail and the MMCScotland website regularly in the coming weeks to keep updated on the latest available information. FOR THIS REASON YOU MUST ENSURE THAT YOU ARE REGISTERED WITH THE DOTS/SST SYSTEM .

Attached is the timetable for the remainder of the MMC specialty training recruitment process in Scotland. There is a lot of detailed information contained within this letter and timetable. You are asked to read them carefully and if you have any questions please refer to the updated FAQs which will be available through the MMCScotland website by the end of Friday 4 May 2007.

Offer process

Offers will be made by e-mail through NES and will be made for placements in ST programmes, taking into account notified sector preferences . They will be released on a rolling basis from 8 May 2007, with the last specialties being released in the week commencing 21 May 2007. These offers will be based on scores achieved in interview and the order in which you are ranked within your specialty and level of application.

Run through (RT) training opportunities will be offered first in each specialty, taking into account your notified sector preference. Fixed Term Specialty Training Apointments (FTSTA) will be released, on a rolling basis, as acceptances for RT training for that specialty are received.

If an initial offer of a RT training post is rejected, it will be offered to the next highest ranked candidate for that specialty. This means that an individual who has already accepted an FTSTA post could be invited to take up a RT training opportunity instead.

You may receive more than one offer through this process based on the numbers of applications you made to Scotland. You may be certain that a particular offer is the right one for you, in which case you are encouraged to accept that offer and reject any others.

Clearly some offers may not interest you and should that be the case, you are encouraged to reject them, to allow the training opportunity to be passed on to your colleagues.

You may be waiting to see if you get an offer from another specialty within Scotland or from outside Scotland. The system allows you to wait until you have had all of your Scottish offers and to then make your choice. It also allows you to hold one Scottish offer up to 23:59 hrs on 10 June 2007, by which time the outcome of any applications you have made to the rest of the UK should be known.

The timetable relies on you accepting or rejecting offers as soon as you are able to, which means that specialty training opportunities can be made available to other doctors. You may wish to discuss your options with your educational supervisor.

Offers for GP and some other specialties will be released by e-mail on 8 May 2007. Other offers will be made as specialties conclude the interview process, which will mean that you will know from an early stage what Scottish offers you have secured.

Accepting offers early will allow you the maximum period of time possible to finalise your personal arrangements ahead of your 1 August 2007 start date.

ONCE A TRAINING PLACE OFFER IS ACCEPTED, YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE MMC APPLICANT POOL AND THE MTAS SYSTEM. NO FURTHER OFFERS OF TRAINING PLACES WILL FOLLOW.

It is important that you do not unnecessarily hold onto offers of training places for a prolonged period of time, particularly where it is clear that you are unlikely to accept them. Adopting a “holding” approach will be to the detriment of your colleagues. For this reason we will assume that only one of any multiple offers of Scottish training places will be of genuine interest to you; and you will be required, by 23:59 hrs on 24 May 2007, to indicate which offer you want to hold open until the rest of the UK makes its ST offers.

Remaining RT or fixed term training offers that have been released will then be re-offered to other rank ordered candidates. This approach will ensure that places can be re-offered to your colleagues who have been deemed as both eligible and competent in their chosen specialty; and should enable Scotland to fill its ST places as quickly as possible.

We acknowledge the significant concerns that have been expressed over the process to recruit junior doctors to ST across the UK. These have focused, predominantly, on the process of short-listing for interview and not the underlying principles of MMC.

These principles, to develop a competency based training programme based on defined national standards, retain widespread support amongst the medical profession, including the medical Royal Colleges and the BMA; and we continue to believe they will provide Scotland with an even better trained medical workforce in future.

It is clear that the introduction of MMC will lead to a clear training structure with explicit paths to follow for doctors in the UK. Benefits are already being seen for Foundation Year doctors as they move into specialty training. We recognise that the transition period, in which we absorb existing SHO’s into specialty training, will be challenging over the next year or two, but that by continuing to work in partnership, we will be able to resolve these issues successfully.

The lessons from implementing MMC for Scotland and our experience with the selection and recruitment process will be carefully considered and reflected in our approach to implementing MMC in the coming years. These lessons will be communicated to the independent review of MMC.

We appreciate that the next few weeks will be a difficult time for all of you. We are doing everything we can to ease the uncertainty through the work that we are doing, which continues to involve the BMA Scottish Junior Doctors Committee. Please review the MMCScotland website, including the FAQs, regularly to ensure you remain informed of the latest developments in Scotland.

Yours faithfully


DR HARRY BURNS

ANNEX A

TIMELINE FOR MMC SPECIALTY TRAINING RECRUITMENT IN SCOTLAND

Friday 30 March Announcement that all eligible applicants to be offered interviews in all specialties to which they have applied.

Monday 16 April Additional interviews for remaining eligible applicants began.

Tuesday 8 May Initial offers of run through (RT) placements on educational training programmes start to be rolled out as specialties conclude the interview process. This will include GP.

Wednesday 9 May Opening date for applicants to accept an offer.

Applicants are asked to accept, reject or “hold” each offer, indicating this on the form which will be included with the offer letter.

Early rejection/acceptance encouraged to allow any rejected offers to be re-offered on a rolling basis.

FTSTAs will be released, on a rolling basis, as acceptances for RT training for that specialty are received.

Thursday 17th May All Scottish interviews complete.

Week beginning Remaining specialties release initial offers.

21 May

Thursday 24th May Applicants still holding multiple offers from Scotland (23:59 hrs) must:
*accept their preferred offer; or
*signal their wish to hold a single offer until 10 June.

Friday 25th May RT/FTSTA offers released (by those applicants holding multiple offers) are re-offered to other rank ordered candidates.

Friday 8th June Planned date for all initial job offers to be released across the UK.

Sunday 10 June Applicants holding open an offer of a training post in (23:59 hrs) Scotland must confirm acceptance of that post. Acceptance for posts in Scotland will be made to NES.

If you do not accept an offer for Scotland that you are holding by this time and date, your offer will close and be passed on to other rank ordered candidates.

Monday 11th June From this point, Scotland begins to make further offers to complete the “fill” for each specialty, programme level and location.

Wed 1st August Specialty training commences.